Oh. My. Word. ~ The Pecking Order ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Hello there crafty friend! 

Today I'm sharing a quick card on Kraft card stock. I do enjoy coloring on Kraft card stock.

I inked up the fun new chickens from Unity called The Pecking Order. I colored them up with some Copic markers and a very sharp White Prismacolor Pencil (for the eyes and feathers).

Copic markers used:

Comb / Wattle / Tongue: R20, R14

Beak / Legs / Feet: YR21, YR15

Eyes: C0, C2

Ground: E21, E25

I stamped the fun chicken feet print along the side for a kind of border. And then I couldn't pick a sentiment so I used two.

I trimmed the Kraft panel to 4 x 5-1/4" and adhered it to a piece of black card stock measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2". I adhered the card front to a Kraft A2 card base. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky hugs,

Crystal

Layered Stencils ~ May 2021 Whit Kit ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I am back with another pretty card featuring the May 2021 Whit Kit called Beauty of Becoming. This time the card kind of had a mind of it's own and went in a totally different direction than I had planned. So funny how that can happen! 

This card has a similar design as the first card with the circle focal piece... but I stamped the beautiful flower stamp repeatedly with Classic Kraft ink on Kraft card stock for a watermark look. I also used the gorgeous Glacier Paste included in the kit for the fun sparkly polka dot background on the circle die cut.

The beautiful hummingbird is stamped with Gina K. Design Amalgam black ink and then heat set with a Mini Wagner heat tool. 

I watercolored the bird with Vintage Pastel watercolors from Prima Marketing. I added some more shading and dimension with Prismacolor Pencils. And finished the detail on the bird with a white gel pen... adding highlights to the eye and the centers of the flowers.

I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white card stock with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink. I trimmed it and adhered it directly to the card. The hummingbird is popped up with a whole bunch of mini stampin' dimensionals. You can check out my video for this card here... Layered Stencils | May 2021 Whit Kit | Unity Stamp Co.

Here's a look at the contents of the May 2021 Whit Kit. 

Head on over to Unity Stamp Co. to sign up for this amazing membership!

I'll be back tomorrow with not one, but two more cards using this fabulous kit!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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Polka Dot Orchard ~ Anything Goes Card ~ Pocket Card that's a Gift!

Hello there crafty friends!

Today, I'm sharing a cute little gift idea that I made for Christmas gifts using the adorable From Our Gnome to Yours digi set. I made these for Christmas, but I think these could be used any time of the year and for all occasions! 

I did customize the measurements to fit the Starbucks hot cocoa packets that I was including in the pockets. I started with a 8-3/8 x 6-1/8" piece of kraft card stock. I scored it at 1/4", 4-1/4",  and 4-3/8". I creased the scored lines well with my bone folder and then adhered the 1/4" flap to the inside of the pocket using tear tape. With the pocket ready to go, now it was time for the fun part... adding pretty papers and the adorable gnome from the From Our Gnome to Yours digi set.

I cut the patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's Snow Day Remix papers to 3-3/4 x 6" and then used a pencil to lightly mark off my cut points for the diagonal cut on the top portion. Once I had all of those cut, I used those cut off diagonal pieces to add another layer of paper to the pocket. 

I mix matched a bunch of the papers and for this particular pocket, I adhered the bunny paper on the top portion where the gnome would be adhered. On my other pocket cards (sadly, I forgot to take a picture), I adhered the diagonal piece of paper on the bottom portion where the gnome would be adhered. I hope that makes sense.

Now for the cute gnome... I resized and combined the Christmas tree digi with the gnome holding the sign that says "Wishing you a Merry Gnomemas and lots of holiday cheer for a bright year" in a Word document. I was able to fit 9 of these on one full 8-1/2 x 11" sheet of card stock. I printed off a few of these sheets with this little guy on kraft card stock and colored them all with the same prismacolor pencils. I trimmed each of them down and mat them on a piece of white card stock that I had die cut with a small stitched square die.

I adhered the mat gnome panels to the front of the pocket cards with tear tape. I did leave the top of the gnome panel open on some so I could slide in a gift card. It really turned into quite a fun gift idea and even though I assembled over 20 of these, I had so much fun and can't wait to make more!

To finish these off, I added the hot cocoa packets and candy canes... I even added some twine to some of the ones that I sent to family and friends (sadly, I didn't get a picture before sending those off). I sure hope that the family and friends that received them really enjoyed them!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Polka Dot Orchard ~ You Are Everything ~ Absolutely Beautiful!

Hello crafty friends!

I have a card to share today that I started a few months ago while my family was moving. I had combined these fabulous digi images from Polka Dot Orchard's You Are Everything digi set onto a Word document and then printed it. This is a larger card measuring 6" x 4-1/4"... I could easily resize the images and make it into an A2 sized card, but I plan on hand delivering this one so I don't have to worry about extra postage to mail it.

I had misplaced this partially colored image while we were moving, so I was really happy to finally find it so I can finish coloring it. Do you ever come back to finish coloring something and you can't quite get the same coloring technique?! I had three petals left to color on the large flower... can you guess which three? It's pretty obvious to me... but I wonder if my crafty friends can tell. LOL!

I used Prismacolor pencils to color in my image. I used the Colorless Blender pencil to blend my colors and I also used the white Prismacolor pencil to blend... one of my favorite ways to blend my prismacolor pencils!

I adhered my colored panel to a piece of Melon Mambo card stock (SU!) and then adhered that to a 6" x 4-1/4" piece of Amethyst Allure card stock (PTI) that I adhered to a white card base. I added a few drops of Nuvo Purple Rain Glitter Drops. I tapped my card on my desk a few times to get the drops to flatten and then set it aside to dry.

Thanks so much for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Unity Stamp Company ~ Mer-Mazing is Seriously Amazing!

Hi there crafty peeps!

I'm so excited to share a new release from Unity Stamp Company called Mer-Mazing!!! Oh my goodness!! I love love love this gorgeous mermaid stamp created by Angie Blom!

Isn't she gorgeous!?! Love!

I decided to make a Faux Shaker so to start I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils blending with the Colorless Blender pencil. I die cut the panel with the Gina Marie Designs' Frames Scalloped Stitched Rectangles die. I then adhered the inner panel to a white card base using liquid glue and popped up the outer frame with foam tape. I adhered a bunch of sequins from the Ariel sequins by Unity Stamp Company... I thought this mix was fitting especially for a mermaid card... and luckily the colors matched perfectly! LOL! 

I trimmed the sentiment and mat each portion with Plum Pudding card stock. I adhered the sentiment to the card and bam! Done! Love how this turned out!

Hope you've enjoyed my card too! Thanks for checking out my blog!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Brutus Monroe ~ Snow Friends ~ Merry & Bright

Hello! I'm back with another guest spot featuring Snowy Friends from Brutus Monroe! I just couldn't resist inking up this snowman... isn't he the cutest snowman?! I can't get enough of him... so I made up a bunch of cards using him!

I started by stamping the snowman from Snowy Friends multiple times with Raven Detail Ink on a light kraft card stock. I colored the snowman first using the following Copic markers ~ B0000, B00, BG000, BG15, BG18, YR15, YR27, YT68, R14, R27, R89.

I love the look of Copics on kraft card stock! To finish off the images, I used some white Prismacolor pencil to highlight here and there. I then fussy cut all the snowmen and set them aside.

I had these note cards in my stash forever and I thought it was time to finally use them. They measure 3-1/2 x 5" when folded. I die cut a circle from a scrap piece of light weight card stock for my 'stencil' and then stamped the trees from the Freshly Cut stamp set by Brutus Monroe and Unity Stamp Company using Pine Needles Distress Oxide ink. I then blended some Shabby Shutters and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink around the outer edge of the circle. I used a heat tool to help the oxide inks dry completely and then rubbed an anti-static pouch over the circle area. 

I then stamped the Merry & Bright sentiment using clear embossing ink and heat set Alabaster white embossing powder. I added a few drops of Nuvo white blizzard glitter drops. To finish them up, I wrapped the cards a couple of times with a metallic turquoise twine and tied them with a bow.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

{Supplies}

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~ Friends of Unity November Blog Hop ~

Hello! It's one of my favorite times of the month... it's time for another Friends of Unity blog hop!! This month Dawn had a fabulous suggestion for November cue ~ Strength... in particular the Strength of women. We kept the cue simple but I have to say this one was a challenge. 

Unity Stamp Company has over 100 Angie Girls to work with and several of them have empowering words and even different variations of the word Strength... but I still struggled. What finally 'clicked' for me was thinking of the Strong women in my life. I've had many strong, inspirational women to look up to and so many of them were the strongest women I'm proud to have known that have inspired me to be the woman I am becoming. Some are no longer with us, but they have left an impression of Strength that will be with me for the rest of my life. So enough of my chit chatter...  let's have a look at the cards I created.

Along with keeping our cue simple, I decided to keep my cards simple and let the image and sentiment be the focus. Last month I made two cards using the same Hoppy Fall  set but using Copic markers to color one and ZIG watercolor pens for the other. So, I thought... let's see how coloring on kraft with Prismacolor pencils looks compared to Copic markers.

 For my first card I stamped Stronger than Anyone ~ Jessica Girl and the sentiment with Amalgam black ink and then colored in the image. I absolutely love the sentiment in this kit! Every time I read it, I instantly think of one person and I think I'm going to send this to her to let her know that I think she's an amazing, strong woman that I am honored to know! 

I added some patterned paper from Carta Bella... called Christmas {yup, Christmas paper and it's not even a Christmas card! Ha!} I loved the black plaid to compliment the red plaid on her shirt. I die cut the edge of the patterned paper with a scalloped edge die from My Favorite Things. I adhered that to the kraft card stock. I die cut the piece with a stitched rectangle die and then I mat the kraft piece on black card stock and wrapped it a few times with white baker's twine tying a small bow. I popped up the panel onto a kraft card base and there you have card number one.

Here's a close up of the coloring on her jeans and purse. When I'm coloring with Prismacolor pencils, once I've blended the colors using a colorless blender pencil, I sometimes like to use my Prismacolor Scholar eraser to clean up the lines of the ink where the pencil has gone over the black lines. With this card though, I also rubbed the eraser on the jeans to give it a bit of worn texture. I really love the way that it roughed up the jeans a bit. I also used the silver Prismacolor pencil to add some touches on this image... her watch face, jean's button, and some accents on her purse. I love the bit of shine that it gives to the card, even though it's subtle.

Now, my second card... I considered stamping and coloring the same image for a more accurate comparison, but... I really wanted to ink up Dream Girl. I'm embarrassed to admit that Dream Girl was a stamp that I purchased for my first order with Unity Stamp Company {along with my absolute favorite ~ Dream of Being} and this is the very first time I've inked her up! It's been almost 3 years!! Can you believe that?! Shameful!! Well, anywho... I inked up Dream Girl using Memento tuxedo black ink. {I could have used the Amalgam black ink again, I just grabbed the Memento... really no rhyme or reason.} Dream Girl reminds me of my beautiful niece and so I just had to try to color her hair similar to my niece's hair. This turned out lighter, which was hard to gauge until it actually dried because while the Copic alcohol ink was wet on the kraft it was darker. I used E09, E15, E97, R89 for the hair and E0000, E000, E00, E01, E04, E51 for the face, neck, and shoulder. Just like the first card, I added a strip of patterned paper and then die cut the piece with a stitched rectangle die. I mat it on a coordinating piece of card stock and wrapped it with a natural twine. I then popped the whole panel up on the kraft card base.

Here's a close up of the Copic coloring on Dream Girl. I really love how she turned out!

As far as a comparison, I think these turned out really nice, but the medium is definitely different. The texture with the Prismacolor pencils is very different from the softness of the blended Copic markers. I love them both really... couldn't choose a favorite, but it sure was fun to play and compare them. I sure hope you enjoyed my cards today!

There are a few giveaways this month so be sure to check out each of the blog posts and comment! We absolutely love all of your comments!

Now I think it's time to get hopping!

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Kim

Bobbie Sue

Eileen

Wynne

Robyn

Dawn

Joyce

Jeanie

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post! 

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

~ Growing in Unity ~ Day Four ~ Happy Birthday

Hello! Welcome to Day Four of my Growing in Unity week!

Today, I'm sharing my fourth Source of Inspiration... CASEing. If you're not familiar with this term CASE a crafty acronym for Copy And Share Everything ~ basically it means you copy aspects of a card, like the colors, the design or the product and make your own card based on that. 

For today's card, I CASEd a lovely project made by Unity's Design Team member, Amanda Garrett. Amanda jazzed up some pretty kraft envelopes by stamping on the flap of the envelope and coloring it in. I thought... that would be gorgeous on a card!

I stamped the Border of Magnolias stamp on a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" piece of Kraft card stock. On that same piece I stamped the Border of Orchids stamp. I stamped both with VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed a fine white embossing powder.

I colored the flowers using the same Prismacolor pencils. I started with the darkest purple, added some pink and then blended them together with a white pencil. I loved the way the white pencil pulled the purple and pink up into the petal. It's really gorgeous in person. And on a side note, for some reason the colors in the pictures here are a bit distorted. The kraft is really lighter than it appears here. I blended an olive green and a brown pencil for the stem (it's really not as dark as the picture makes it look).

And then for my Border of Orchids card, I did the same. I used the dark purple pencil to make the spots for the orchid. I added a touch of the pink on the spots and then I blended those colors with a white pencil. I went back in with some more purple and pink here and there to darken it up. I really love how this turned out!

Once the flowers were colored, I die cut them using first a stitched rectangle die that was just a little smaller than a card front. I then die cut the center of the panel using a Stitched Scallop Basic Edge die. I stamped the sentiment from the Let Your Wishes Fly sentiment kit directly on the kraft card base using VersaMark ink and heat set a fine white embossing powder. I popped up the flower pieces using foam tape and there you have my CASEd cards! Thank you for the inspiration, Amanda!

The Unity Design Team is a fabulous source of inspiration! As is, the very talented Unity customers that share in the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group. If you're not a member of the group, I really recommend joining... there's always fabulous creations being shared!

Be sure to leave a comment on each of my GIU blog posts for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! 

You can check out my other GIU days:

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Come back tomorrow for my final Source of Inspiration post!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity December Blog Hop

Hello! I'm super excited to be hopping with some very talented ladies that have participated with Growing in Unity the last couple of months. 

If you've been hopping, you arrived here from Amanda Garrett's  blog and you've reached the end of our hop. No pressure there being the end of the hop... yikes!! Haha! Anywho, onto my card... 

I have a sweet friend who likes birds and I wanted to make her Christmas card using these particular birds. I just love these sweet birds, but I also love the scene behind the birds so I wanted to make the card kind of like a window. I sure hope she likes it!

I started with a kraft card base that I stamped the birdy image from the Chick Time kit using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the image with prismacolor pencils and then set that aside. I grabbed another piece of kraft card stock to stamp the lovely pine cones and branches on from the Winter Blessings kit. First, I wanted to make sure that the pine cones and branches framed the scene so I laid the card with the birds on my grid paper and marked some general measurements for my 'window area'. I then laid the 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of kraft card stock in the same part of the grid and lightly marked off the area with pencil. 

Then came the fun part, stamping the branches... I stamped them just twice - once in each corner and colored them using copic markers. I grabbed another piece of kraft card stock and stamped the pine cones several times. I cut out my 'window' by hand fussy cutting around the branches. I colored in the pine cones using copic markers and then I wanted to add a touch of gold so I used a Ranger Emboss It pen and then heat embossed some Ultra Fine Antique Gold embossing powder. Those pine cones look so cool in person. I wish the picture showed it better. I fussy cut the pine cones and adhered them and then I cut off the edges that went over the card. I popped up the pine cone and branch piece over top of the card base using dimensionals. All that was left was the sentiment... I originally planned on doing a banner with the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Cheerful Prancing kit, but it was much bigger than I anticipated so I ended up fussy cutting around it and adding it to the fence under the birds. It almost looks like the birds hung a sign on the fence. Haha! Well, that's my card for this fun hop. I sure hope you liked it!

Like I mentioned above, I am the end of the hop so if you happened to miss any blogs be sure to check out the hop list below AND don't forget to comment on each blog for a chance to win a prize package from Unity Stamp Co.

~ Blog Hop List ~

Unity Blog

Denise Sayers
Lori Simonson
Shannon Edwards 
Amber Sheaves 
Kim Chong

Angela Bode 
MariLynn DeGroot 
Amanda Rhodes 
Paula McClane 
Sue Nagata 

Amanda Garrett 
Crystal O. Minkler  <--- you're here

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal